Kenya is committed to the International Maritime Organization’s programmes aimed at improving safety and shipping security and preservation of marine environment.
Cabinet Secretary for Transport Eng Michael Kamau
Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure Michael Kamau said Kenya is upgrading various projects in order to raise the country’s maritime profile and help boost growth of regional economies.
“Kenya has put emphasis on the development of facilities at the port of Mombasa including the upcoming port of Lamu and South Sudan, Ethiopia Transport Corridor to facilitate trade and boost the growth of regional economies,” said Kamau yesterday in statement from London where he is attending the IMO general assembly in London.
Kamau urged the IMO to provide technical assistance to help Kenya develop an integrated maritime policy and draft the necessary legal instruments for domestication of IMO conventions.
He pleaded with the world maritime body to provide grants and fellowships to Kenyans, especially to the World Maritime University (WMU) and the International Maritime Law Institute (IMLI).
“Such scholarships are necessary in assisting us to build national maritime capacity to move the industry forward, granted that Kenya is also an active member and supporter of the IMO agenda,” Kamau pointed out.
Eng. Kamau said this yesterday while updating Koji Sekimizu,the IMO, Secretary General at the sidelines of the ongoing IMO general assembly in London, UK.
Sekimizu said that the IMO will work with leadership in Africa through the African Union to promote and facilitate the growth of the maritime sector to generate wealth and create job opportunities in the continent.
By GILBERT KOECH, The Star
